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Olivia Chow proposed a new regional economic development agency and pointedly mentioned rival John Tory’s past as a Rogers executive in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada on Tuesday.

Chow accused Tory of bragging in general terms about his credentials as a corporate leader while staying “mysteriously silent about which company he worked for and what he actually achieved there.”

“The company is Rogers,” she said with a flourish. “You know, the current CEO of Rogers released a strategic plan a few weeks ago to fix the poor customer service that occurred under his predecessors. Just saying.”

Chow’s campaign has attacked Tory relentlessly. Until Tuesday, though, she had left Rogers-related jabs to her campaign operatives while keeping her own nominal distance.

The criticism appears targeted at voters who might generally favour a businessman but who have negative feelings about the Rogers conglomerate in particular.

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Tory ran Rogers Media from 1995 to 1999 and Rogers Cable from 1999 to 2003; he continues to sit on the Rogers Communications board. In his own appearance at the Economic Club, in May, he called company founder Ted Rogers a mentor. His website says he was “CEO of one of Canada's largest publishing and broadcasting companies.”

Campaign spokeswoman Amanda Galbraith said Tuesday: “John is proud of his role at Rogers, as commissioner of the CFL, at CFRB and head of the United Way and countless other community organizations.”

Chow’s campaign has attempted to portray Tory as an elitist. Playing up her own rise from childhood poverty, she alleged on Tuesday that Tory and incumbent do not understand “the daily lives of most people.” And she claimed they do not have “any experience getting things done in office” — though Ford has achieved several policy victories during his rocky tenure.

Chow proposed a new regional body, “Global Toronto,” that would bring together city-owned Invest Toronto with the economic development activities of Toronto’s government, the governments of surrounding municipalities, and non-government entities such as the board of trade.

The new entity would do many of the same things the region’s current entities already do. Chow argued that consolidation would make their efforts more effective.

“What we need in Toronto is to speak with one voice and one direction as an economic development powerhouse,” she told reporters after the speech at the Hilton hotel on Richmond St. W.

She also pledged to participate in the mayors’ meetings Ford has largely shunned. In a nod to Ford’s ongoing leave of absence, which he says will end on June 30, she said “our current mayor has been on leave for his whole term when it comes to the economy.”

The speech from the left-leaning Chow was indistinguishable in boosterish tone from the economic statements of right-leaning Tory. She promised to address youth unemployment, make it easier to obtain business permits, and invite corporate leaders and academics to join a “Mayor’s Council on the Economy and Jobs.”

“What steps do we need to take, what barriers do we need to knock down, what investments do we need to make, what rules do we need to change, so that Toronto can take its place as Canada’s capital of innovation and entrepreneurship? After a four-year sleep, it is time to get down to business on these issues,” she said.

Tory argues that Chow is an “NDP candidate” who would not have credibility acting as a “salesperson-in-chief” to the business leaders and prospective investors who respect him. Galbraith said Tory, not Chow, would work best with the provincial and federal governments.

Chow, Galbraith said, devoted almost all of her speech to “bragging, attacking and rehashing” rather than her actual announcement.

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